Toi Ohomai (Tauranga)

Tertiary education folk can best judge Budget 2016 by what it does for local communities, says TEU president Sandra Grey. For the last seven years every corner of tertiary education, except for some private providers, has faced tough budgets that have made it harder for people to do their job effectively, harder for students to get high-quality education and harder for institutions to remain stable and secure. However, the...

People working at Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waiariki Institute of Technology are astonished that their institutions will merge despite overwhelming opposition. Tertiary education minister Steven Joyce announced today that the two polytechnics will merge on 1 May 2016. His support for the merger stands in contrast to the 70 percent of submitters who disagreed or strongly disagreed with the merger proceeding. TEU national president...

The people of the Bay of Plenty deserve to know when Steven Joyce will decide if Waiariki Institute of Technology and Bay of Plenty Polytechnic should merge. Rory McCourt, the president of the New Zealand Union of Students NZUSA, and Sandra Grey, the president of the Tertiary Education Union TEU, say people in the Bay of Plenty need to know what is going on. “The minister need not rush his decision, but he does need to urgently let...

Tertiary Update Vol 18 No 31 Most TEU members at Waiāriki and Bay of Plenty polytechnics do not believe there is a good case for a merger, according to a submission by the union. TEU submitted to the minister this week on the two polytechnics’ plan to merge, arguing that members have serious concerns about the proposal. Almost 90 percent of TEU members who participated in discussions are opposed to the merger or unsure about its...

Tertiary Update Vol 18 No 29 Tertiary education minister Steven Joyce has opened public consultation on the proposed merger of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic (BoPP) and the Waiariki Institute of Technology. The two polytechnics submitted a business case for the merger to the minister earlier this month. Joyce will consult until 22 September after which time he will make his decision. The two polytechnics are both planning to disestablish...

Local iwi need space to have a say in Waiariki and Bay of Plenty polytechnics’ merger plans before they are approved says TEU’s Te Pou Tuarā Lee Cooper. Cooper says the merger is not making enough space to hear the views of Te Mana Mātauranga, which represents the eight hapū in Te Arawa together with other neighbouring hapū and iwi – Whakatōhea, Ngāti Manawa, Ngāti Whare to mention a few. Te Mana Mātauranga is a trust which...